There’s nothing cuter than a little kitten, but their small size does mean that they can get into some rather sticky situations.
Not least two kittens in Cornwall in the very south of the UK, who have survived being wedged alongside boiling water pipes and are currently on the road to recovery. They’ll eventually go up for adoption – and, hopefully, the rest of their lives will be a little less dramatic.
Bill and Barb, who are just five weeks old, were hiding in a shed for shelter when they were startled and went down a pipe that contained heating pipes for the main building.
They were due to be collected with their mother, who was scheduled to be neutered as part of plans to support a semi-feral colony by Cats Protection Cornwall Cat Centre.
Jasmine Nevitte, who is the center’s receptionist and also assists with the trap-neuter-return program, said of the ordeal: “I have been working with a gentleman to neuter all the cats in a semi-feral colony that live in his garden. When I went to collect the kittens from the shed, unbeknown to either of us there was a pipe in the back corner of the shed behind some boxes with the water heating pipes running through them.
“When I entered the shed the two kittens shot down the pipe and got stuck, tangled in some cables. I managed to get the first kitten, Barb, but behind her the second kitten, Bill, had gone in head-first and got totally stuck behind and under the boiling hot water pipes.”
Because Bill couldn’t get himself out, and there was no way to cool the pipes quickly, there was pressure to get him out before he suffered serious burns or died. Nevitte could reach his legs but couldn’t keep her arm there for long due to the temperature of the pipes, so, wearing insulated work gloves and a soft-shell jacket, she pulled the hot pipes back just long enough for her to grip Bill, release his head, untangle his legs, and pull him up.
“We took both kittens straight to the vets and amazingly Barb didn’t have any significant burns,” she said. “Unfortunately, Bill’s little bottom was more badly burnt than we initially thought, and he will need close monitoring, daily bathing and he is on antibiotics and pain relief.
“Although understandably shaken up from their ordeal, both kittens are doing well and behaving like typical, playful kittens. They are gradually adjusting to life with indoor comforts and getting used to humans.”
The kittens are getting round-the-clock care and are gradually being socialized, so they’ll be able to be rehomed when they’re old enough. Because they grew up in a semi-feral colony, they would have had little or no interaction with humans so far. But, as they’re so young, they haven’t yet developed their fear response fully and can learn to trust humans over time.
If you’d like to send the kittens and their friends at the center a gift, there’s an Amazon wishlist here.
Read next: How to prepare for adopting a kitten
